The use of pacifiers for small children has been the custom for many years, and numerous pacifiers have been commercially available having a variety of sizes, shapes, consistencies and other characteristics. However, it has been found that many of such pacifiers designed with all good intentions ultimately fail the test by the user, i.e. they are rejected by the infants for one reason or other, such reasons usually being traceable to shape, size, consistency, weight or the like. It has been found that especially infants born prematurely are very difficult to satisfy, and for all practical purposes there is, to the best of our knowledge, not one pacifier on the market that has been found satisfactory for the premature baby.
Typical pacifiers are reflected by the disclosures of certain references of interest:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,112 (Mager et al) deals with a one-piece pacifier having a bag shaped sucking portion somewhat enlarged at its tip, a circular or disc-shaped lip guard, and a base extension which which may be penetrated by bore holes for the purpose of, for instance, inserting a ring; it is alleged that due to the strongly curved closing surfaces; of the base extension, it is avoided that an infant uses the wrong end of the pacifier. No mention is made of a lip guard or of the sucking portion being devoid of enlargement at its tip.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,014 (Wroten) provides a one-piece pacifier having a hollow nipple portion, a lip guard and a ring; said nipple portion being enlarge at its tip and carrying several ridges on the inside surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,067 (Hurst) teaches a baby soother comprising interlocking teat, ring and shield portions, the latter bonding together the two former elements. There is no mention made of perforations in the shield or the teat being without an enlarge tip section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,232 (Lerner) describes a pacifier having a nipple, a guard and a ring portion, wherein said nipple has a enlarged shape towards its tip and is penetrated by holes allegedly for improved safety from choking; no perforations are contempleted for the guard member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,613 (Panicci) deals with a one-piece pacifier having a non-symmetrical nipple to which is attached a shield, the latter being of a curved shape to allegedly minimize infant's chin irritation; a handle is also provided which is angled downwards towards the curved lower portion of the shield. There is no indication that the shield has to carry perforations or that the nipple be of cylindrical shape without an enlarged tip.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,378 (Chrones) describes a two-piece pacifier wherein the baglet plus handle portion carries two bevelled collars allowing securing a shield within the space provided by said collars. Although two relief openings are indicated in the shield, a multiplicity of perforations is neither mentioned nor anticipated, and the nipple has the conventionally enlarged tip shape.